Inverse aqueous phase catalysts, synthesis

What about when the substrate and product are water soluble The problem of catalyst recovery in this case can be solved by employing inverse aqueous bi-phasic catalysis. An example is the hydroformylation of N-allylacetamide in an aqueous biphasic system in which the catalyst is dissolved in the organic phase and the substrate and product remain in the water phase. This formed the basis for an elegant synthesis of the natural product, melatonin, in which the aqueous solution of the hydroformylation product was used in the next step without work-up (Fig. 7.6) [32]. 

Beaded acrylamide resins (28) are generally produced by w/o inverse-suspension polymerization. This involves the dispersion of an aqueous solution of the monomer and an initiator (e.g., ammonium peroxodisulfates) with a droplet stabilizer such as carboxymethylcellulose or cellulose acetate butyrate in an immiscible liquid (the oil phase), such as 1,2-dichloroethane, toluene, or a liquid paraffin. A polymerization catalyst, usually tetramethylethylenediamine, may also be added to the monomer mixture. The polymerization of beaded acrylamide resin is carried out at relatively low temperatures (20-50°C), and the polymerization is complete within a relatively short period (1-5 hr). The polymerization of most acrylamides proceeds at a substantially faster rate than that of styrene in o/w suspension polymerization. The problem with droplet coagulation during the synthesis of beaded polyacrylamide by w/o suspension polymerization is usually less critical than that with a styrene-based resin. 

Alternatively, the Sn2 nucleophilic substitution reaction between alcohols (phenols) and organic halides under basic conditions is the classical Williamson ether synthesis. Recently, it was found that water-soluble calix[n]arenes (n = 4, 6, 8) containing trimethylammonium groups on the upper rim (e.g., calix[4]arene 5.2) were inverse phase-transfer catalysts for alkylation of alcohols and phenols with alkyl halides in aqueous NaOH solution to give the corresponding alkylated products in good-to-high yields.56... 

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